Thank goodness I have found this site!!! I am a relative newcomer to Labyrinthitus - only started with it 5 weeks ago. I have, however, been a migraine sufferer for many years (started 1994) and had asked my doctor if they could be linked, receiving the usual response - nothing! :x
Thanks Wendy, there are some wonderful people on this forum, Adam has set up some articles at the front of the site, theyāre really informative, and I find myself going back to them every now and again,
My name is jenny and Iām from Australia.
Iāve only been frequenting this site for a few months now, but have picked up some helpful hints and I have made some invaluable friendships along the way.
The people here are so sweet.
Good luck with your quest for a normal life.
My new regimen of med is
240mg a day of verapamil (calcium channel blocker)
300mg at night of neurontin
25gm in the a.m of Zoloft antidepressant, for brain fog depression and it gives me energy to do things.
these drugs are helping a bit with my anxiety and helping me have LESS migraines.
Some people here donāt have the head pain, some do,
I suffer 24/7 rocking as if on a boat, with neurological issues.
Stroke like symptoms ect.
I feel for you having the head pain as well. I ;ve had head pain in the pastr that has sent me to the ER. so I understand the terror you must feel.
I used to suffer migraine head pain, but stopped only to have it turn into vertigo.
Anyway I just wanted to welcome you, and say youāre not alone.
Warm regards jen.
ā Begin quote from "Wendy G"
The strange thing is that I have not had a period since January (or a migraine) then wham 5 weeks ago was hit with the vertigo and subsequent other symptoms (tinnitus, headache etc). Reading Galaās note it seems to me that the answer may lie with my estrogen levels and I now intend to see a specialist to confirm this.
ā End quote
Wendy, itās not just about estrogen.
I know my levels so well, I can even predict them.
Granted, I have had my blood serum levels pulled more than any woman I know.
I learned about what the levels mean by reading Dr, Elizabeth Vlietās books.
But I urge you to also check progesterone, and do not let tham tell you that you are ānormalā.
Itās a crock. Normal is not optimal.
In the last 3 days, I knew something was different with me. I wasnāt in a fetal position crying.
So I predicted an estrogen level of at least 40. It was 42.
I predicted a progesterone level of darn near zero. It was.
I just got my results faxed over to me today.
That is how well I know my body.
Itās actually progesteroneālack of it, that can cause a lot of problems.
The ratio of progesterone to estrogen has to be in a harmonious balance or nasty problems can start in our body.
In the MdDS group a lot of women figured it out-- progesterone deficiency was affecting their symptoms.
I may have had more energy in the last 3 days than in months, but not having any progesterone to balance out the
slightly higher estrogen level has actually made my āmotionā symptoms worse.
Fascinating revelation for me.
But then most women donāt keep having labs pull their hormones as often as I do. 
Iām lucky I have a kind female enodcrinologist.
āProgesterone itself soothes the nervous system. Progesterone can become chemicals in the brain that act just like Xanax and Valium to calm anxietyāthough of course itās the other way around. Xanax and Valium act like progesterone!ā
Great commentary on progesterone:
hystersisters.com/vb2/article_97232.htm
Iām meeting with a Doc who specializes in bio-identical hormones in the next couple weeks.
I canāt live like this anymore. Itās not living!
Heather
(Who has zero progesterone and just popped a Xanax)
Iāve also heard that being under stress for long periods of time, as we are!
The very same hormone thatās delivered during the fight or flight response is left lingering in our bodies can cause low progesterone, and hormone disruption, my sister in law had a very bad break up which lasted a year she was left with hardly any progesterone in her system, the naturopath gave her progesterone cream and with in a week she was back to normal, able to go jogging ect.
And yet she had seen her GP and had been told her it was (WITH IN)
Normal levels.
jen
here we go.
an explanation from an RN, who is on the MDds site.
I dont think she would mind.
Many of us believe that there is a link between stress and hormone
levels being deficient and leaving us in a heightened state of
anxiety which can lead to Adrenal gland fatigue. Progesterone is the
female hormone that has a relaxing effect. Estrogen, progesterone.
and testosterone are all secreted from the Adrenal glands.
When a person is under stress the adrenal glands release cortical
steroids. This is what happens when a person is frightened for
example. Our heart beat speeds up, our pupils constrict, and our body
becomes flushed with excitatory hormones from the adrenal glands and
excitatory brain chemicals. This is known as the fight or flight
syndrome.
If you are sick for a long time or stressed for a long time your
body will wear itās immune system down. This leaves us susceptible to
illness, cancer, anxiety attacks, and emotional collapse. I feel that
this leaves us open to getting MdDS from a prolonged motion
experience or for those with a spontaneous onset it could be from
something as simple as getting a sinus infection.
Proving this theory is another story. The medical community doesnāt
recognize Adrenal fatigue as a true condition. Iāve written a letter
to a researcher who studies the adrenal gland and there is a link
with chronic fatigue and impaired adrenal gland functioning.
jen
All true Jen.
My endo wrote me a note that my 24 hr urine cortisol test just came back high.
She thinks itās from stress. (oh gee, ya think? Me-- stressd out?)
She wants me to take another type of cortisol test,
but I refuse to put any type of steroid in my body for a diagostic test.
I have enough problems right now.
Great Doc though, I really like her.
Heather
Hi , what did she say sheād do for it.
progesterone???
ā Begin quote from "jennyd"
And yet she had seen her GP and had been told her it was (WITH IN)
Normal levels.
ā End quote
Thereās that word ānormal.ā Normal for whom, a corpse?
The majority of Docs know nothing about optimal hormone levels.
My progesterone came back yesterday, at literally .01
Meanwhile what was normal for me was about 10.0
Thatās the difference between 10 bucks and a penny!
I frequently had my hormones pulled over the last year
and even know what they were 7 or 8 years ago.
Great reference points.
She referred me to a Doc who specializes in bio-identical hormones.
I see her in the next 2 weeks.
I need to get on both estrogen and progesterone, but need to find the right formula for me to
avoid any horrible side effects (which can be many with HRT!)
Heather
Heather , brain fog,
half the time I cant remember what I had for breakfast let alone my hormone level ranges.
I forget more than I remember these days, I hate it.
jen
Heather,
I know what you mean about messing with HRT. All i did was use a little natural progesterone cream and it messed me up big time. Thatās one of the reasons I havenāt gone down that female hormone path. Next time I see my endo i think iāll quiz him.
Good luck, hopefully this new woman will come up with a good fix for you,
Julie
When you say the progesterone messed you up Julie, can you be more specific?
Heather
yea, like sudden **chronic, raging ** yeast infections (never had one before in my life), I had to take a ton of Diflucan for weeks and weeks to get rid of it, iām sure i killed my liver with that alone. Worsening of insomnia - i slept about 3 hours a night for 6 weeks until i begged my PCP for Ambien, worsening of my mood swings. You name it, it got worse. I finally figured out it was that natural (has to be safe) progesterone cream I was using. I threw it all away, but quick. And I also stopped using all supplements for menopause. Iāve always known my system is sensitive. I told somebody else on this forum Iāve always been called Stradivarius. So i figured Iād be better off just going au naturale.
same thing when this crazy dizziness started. Not only did the docs say there was nothing to be done, but the treatments they did offer, I knew would throw me off, eg Antivert. I finally let somebody talk me into taking 1/8 of a pill and i was in bed for 8 hours - dizzy as heck.
It hasnāt been easy for me to accept these meds, Heather, and i started super super slowly, but I only did it because I was absolutely desparate. I thought I was dying, and when I figured out I wasnāt I had to figure out a way to live. I had to try their damn meds. Iām glad I did. I hate being medicated. When people tell me Iām recovering, I say, no, Iām medicated.
Julie
There was definitely something wrong with that cream!
Oral micronized progesterone (bio-identical not synthetic crap like in BC pills)
is very ābenzo-likeā and I have yet to hear a woman say that prometrium (name for it) increased insomnia, but rather they complain that
if they take it in the day, it makes them too sleepy. Thatās why itās taken at night by women. (Kind of like my attitude about Klonopin)
Heather
Heather, this was ten years ago - i donāt remember what the heck was in those creams then. but they sure werenāt bio-identical - thatās only Rx, correct? I was told the same thing, that they would relax me - well iām not easily relaxed. All I know is Iām not messing with my estrogen and progesterone lightly. Now I need an endocrinologist superspecialist! Ye Gads it is tough staying functional. How did our mothers do it? (I do have a theory, which Iāve posted before, so iāll inhibit myself).
Julie
I donāt know what kind of progesterone cream I tried, it was from the Health Food Store (and it wasnāt even two years ago), but its the only time I laid awake for 2 full days with the āstrobeā thing going off everytime I closed my eyes. I canāt say for sure thats what it was, but I stopped it immediately and havenāt ever experienced it again. Iāve always thought I would like to pursue the āhormonalā thing, but I no longer have medical insurance, so that kinda puts a stop to that.
Heather-
i just started thinking, if I remember correctly, the instructions on the cream I tried said to begin using it on a certain day of the month (according to your cycle), use it for so many days, then stop for so many days. From that alone, can you tell if it was ābio-identicalā (or whatever you called it)? Sorry if thats a stupid question, wish I still had the jarā¦ 
Thanks,
Kim
youāre right, you were supposed to use it for two or three weeks and then go off a week. I canāt remember either. i just thought that bio-identicals were Rx only.
Oh, the other thing i remember from back then was all the soy they were throwing at people. As if that were the answer to menopausal symptoms. Well i found out, the hard way, that iām allergic to soy, and the response to the allergy took forever to go away, with a lot of discomfort in between. Iāll bet those progesterone creams had soy in them, everything else seems to. Besides MSG, and itās aliases, soy is second on my list of what to look for in the fine print.
Bio identicals are RX only.
The OTC stuff can be scary.
About the soy, how did you find out you were allergic-- some test?
The Climara estrogen patch is made from soy and I had HUGE problems with it.
Heather
I got an extremely nasty skin rash, all over my neck, arms, abdomen - that would not go away forever!
And lots of GI upset. I was eating soy bars at the time and I remember opening one up, started to put it in my mouth and thought āthis is poison.ā I figured out that that is what was making me sick - threw the three boxes ($$) away.
Thatās when i got wary about all these menopausal treatments. That and that darn cream.